It is often required to provide a connection between a piece of equipment which is in linear motion, such as a robot and a stationary piece of equipment, such as a control panel wherein the connection does not hinder the motion of the moving piece of equipment and wherein the reliability of the connection is adequate and sufficiently durable to sustain the system through a large number of motions.
A line guiding assembly which accomplishes these objectives includes U.S. Ser. No. 07/807,018. Although the connection of this line guiding assembly is sufficiently durable, when this assembly is used for long intervals, debris is generated by the abrasion at the surfaces of the upper and lower lengths as they travel against each other. This debris may collect in the area surrounding the line guiding assembly and may be cosmetically undesirable and/or the debris may serve as an airborne carrier of static charge which may be unacceptable in certain applications.
The line guiding assembly of U.S. Ser. No. 07/807,018 also requires a large driving force to overcome the static friction that exists between the upper and lower lengths and put the mobile piece of equipment into motion.
There is a need to improve the line guiding assembly to eliminate the creation of debris and provide a system where a lesser driving force to move the mobile piece of equipment is provided.